Stop mechanism for phonographs and the like



7 Nov. 20, 1923. 1,474,50i

o. s. WRIGHT STOP MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS AND THE LIKE Filed May 26. 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 J ZZZ} I;

w/ /vfissis I INVENTOR liver 8. Q

I BY ATTZIJfD- S' Nov. 20, 19.23. "$1,

01S. WRIGHT STOP MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS AND THE LIKE 1 Filed May 20, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F]& H

Fla 12:

Nov. 20, 1923.

O. S. WRIGHT STOP MECHANISM FOR-PHONOGRAPHS AND THE LIKE Filed May 20, 1920 S SheetS-Sheet 3 i Z 59 55 5:) 555% V I 65 F- 4- I 2%, M 31 a v a FJGJJ. 52 Z0 59 55 a? 62 25 Z7 Z2 F16}. MI

FIG. 1/177. 65 WIT/#15358: INVENTOR ,4 z, a M 0mm 5. Mgr/1r.

1 I ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 2%, W23.

stares s'ror MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS Ann THE LIKE.

Application filed May 20,

' T aZZ w 7mm may concern Be it known that I, OLIVER S. WRIGHT, a British subject of Canada, residing in Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stop Mechanisms for Phonographs and the like, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawin s.

Fly invention relates to stop mechanisms for phonographs and the like. It is my aim to provide for stopping the phonograph ma chine, when the playing needle or stylus reaches the end of a record groove, in a novel and advantageous manner. I further aim to enable the mechanism employed to be. made simple and convenient in operation; completely automatic in action; inexpensive to manufacture; and easy to apply to either new or old machines. How these and other advantages can be secured in connection with my invention will become apparent from the description hereinafter of the best practical embodiment at present known to me, while its full scope and'essentials will be indicated in my claims.

It is my aim to enable the desired stop action to be secured without presetting of the mechanism for each individual record played. For this purpose, I prefer to employ an operatlng mechanism receiving divers motions separately derived from the playing of a record, and controlling or ac tuating the stop devlce proper by virtue of their combined action. I have hereinafter described and illustrated my invention with, special reference to its application to the fiat disc type of record, showing the con trolling motions as derived, respectively, from the movement of the tone-arm and the revolution of the record carrier or turntable.

In the drawings, Fig. I is a plan view of a conventional flat disc phonograph machine with my invention applied thereto.

Fig. II is a corresponding side view with the phonograph case in section, an edge portion of the record carrier being broken away and removed to expose the parts beneath the carrier.

Fig. III is a plan view of the principal parts of my stop mechanism on an enlarged scale, the exterior casing and certain oper- 1926. Serial No. 382,738

ating parts above it having been broken away and removed for the sake of clearness of illustration. 7

Fig. IV is a nism with certain and in section.

Fig. V is a view of the main operating mechanism from IV, the exterior section. V.

Fig. VI is a similar view with certain parts in a different operating position.

Fig. VII is a parts partly broken away casing or frame being in mechanism to stop the machine, certain parts being broken away and removed for the sake of greater clearness of illustration. I

Fig. VIII is a fragmentary plan view of an accessory part.

Referring, first, to Figs. I, II, III and IV it will be seen that the device here illustrated comprises an operating mechanism in asuitable casing, comprehensively indicated by the reference numeral 1, mounted adjacent the periphery of the record disc carrier 2. This mechanism 1, it will be seen, is carried on a base plate 3 having beneath it a rubber pad 4c, which aids in securing the mechanism firmly and definitely in place. The base plate 3 has a depressed portion 5 which extends beneath the record carrier or turntable 2 and embraces its axial drive shaft 6, and on this base plate member 5 is mounted mechanism for transmitting to the operating mechanism 1 motion derived from the ro-ta tion of the turn-table 2. This mechanism comprises a rotary actuator 7 having a concentric axis portion with bearing in a circular hole in the plate 5,-a.nd secured therein by being spun or enlarged at its lower-edge,- and an eccentric cam portion thereabove which bears against and actuates the short end of a rocking lever 8 fulcrumed on said plate 5 by means of a headed pivot 9. Friction between the lever 8 and the plate member 5 during the vibratory motion of the former produced by the eccentric cam 7 is minimized by means of a round bearing protuberance 10 at the lower side of said lever. Atthe upper end of the rotary actuator 7 are a multiplicity of inwardly projecting spring fingers 11 which engage frictionaliy with the lower side of the turn-table 2 and insure rotation of the cam actuator 7 therewith.

side view of the same mechas the left of Figs. III and v fragmentary view similar to 1 1g. IV illustrating the operation of the to the o eratin mechanism 1 b means com- P n Y prising a'crank or lever arm 13 assoclated with said operating mechanism and a. link slidably spring 25 14 connecting the free end ofisaid arm 13 with a collar or clip 15 adapted to be secured in definite position on said tone-arm 12. The lever arm 13, it will be seen, extends through a head 16 fixed on the upper end of a shaft 20 forming part of the operating mechanism 1, and its effective length may be varied and adjusted by means of a setscrew 21 in said head.

The means for stopping the machine here shown comprises a brake device consisting of a lever 22 fulcrumed on a pivot 23 se-' cured in the base plate 3, and provided with a leather friction shoe 24. A helical tension connected between upstanding lugs 26 and 27 on the lever 22 and on the base plate'3, respectively, tendsto rock the lever 22 and bring the friction shoe 24 into Wiping contact with. the turn-table 2, thereafter exerting on the lever sufficient force to insure quick stoppage of the machine.

During playing, the brake lever22 is held 'set in the position shown in Figs. III

. shaft 20 two metal pinion 33 mounted and IV by engagement of a latch member 28 pivoted to lugs on said lever with a stoplug 29 struck up from the baseplate 3. At the proper time, the latch 28 is lifted from behind the lug 29 to release the brake lever 22 and permit the brake device to act, as will be described hereinafter.

Referring,'now, to Figs. III, IV, V, VI and VII, it will be seen that there are on the disc elements 30 and 31, one being above the other. The disc 30 is actuated by motion of the tone-arm'12,being connected to the shaft 20 through a multiplying mechanism comprising a gear 32 fast on said shaft 20 and meshing with a small on an axis 34 and connected to a coaxial large gear 35 which, in turn, meshes with another small pinion 36 directly secured to. said disc 30. 'By this means, it will be seen, the element 30 is definitely and positively connected to the tone-arm 12 so as to move therewith. The element 31 is actuated by revolution'of the record carrier 2, through the parts 7 and 8 above mentioned together with others now presently to be described. These discs '30 and 31 control and actuatethe brakedevice to stop the machine; through a sort of differential action'or relative movement between them. r

, It has already been explained that the eccentric cam 7 acts to rock the lever 8 about the pivot 9. From Figs. III, V and VI, it will be seen that there is mounted on the plate member 5 a long spring finger- 40 which extends over the base plate 3 proper, where it'is offset upward sothat its end may engage in a groove in the hub 41 of the-disc in playing.

31 and resist upward movement of the parts 31 and 41 on the shaft 20. This spring 40 also bears against and tends to depress the approximately horizontal arm of an angle lever 42 fulcrumed at 43 in lugs on the base plate 3. The upstanding arm of the lever 42 bears against the end ofa laterally projecting lug44 on corresponding" arm of said lever .8 toward the front of Fig. III; and thus the spring '40 serves to maintain the other arm of the lever 8 against the eccentric cam periphery of the actuator 7 and cooperates with said actuator in producing the vibratory motion of said lever 8/ Movement of the lug 4.4 of lever 8 toward the" rear of Fig. III by the actuator 7, on the other hand, acts through the lever 42 to lift the spring 40 and thereby raise the disc '31 through engagement of the end of said spring 40 with the groove in the hub 41 of said disc.

To the same arm of the lever 8 that carries the lug 44 a dog 45 is pivoted at 46, and a laterally resilient washer tween the dog 45 and the head of its pivot screw 46 serves to create such friction as tends .to keep said dog in any position with reference to said lever 8 to which it may be brought. Adjacent the periphery of the disc element 31, the dog 45 has a sharp angular upright tooth edge formed by one corner of an upstanding lug 48;'it has also a beveled or inclined outer end 49. About at the end of the movement of the dog 45 toward the rear of Fig. III, its beveled end 49 wipesv against the adjacent edge of an upstanding lug 50 on thebase plate 3 and thus forces the tooth edge at 48 into position for engagement with the periphery of the disc 31 on the return movement of the dog. During each return movement of the lever 8 under the impulsion of the spring 40, there fore, the dog. 45 acts to turn the disc 31', clockwise, a short angular distance; while during the movement of the lever 8 by the elccentric actuator 7 on the otherrhand, the c 0g cry. The periphery of the diso31 need not necessarily be toothed for engagement by the dog tooth 48, but may be left plain, as

ness of the dog tooth to insure proper'm'ove- 47 interposed be thelever 8 and urges the r rides idly along or past the disc periphshown,reliance being placed on the sharp? ment of the disc thereby. Similarly,the 7 dog 45 need not necessarily be spring-urged into engagement with the disc periphery,

since the coaction of the lug 50 and the V beveled dog end 49 may, as shown, be relied on to insure 'initialengagement. By this means, therefore, the disc 31 'isgiven bothan intermittent unidirectional movement ofro- 'tation and a vibratory up and down movement during the rotation of the turntable 2 The vibratory up and down movement of the disc 31 and its range are apparent from Figs. IV, V and VI,-of

which the two former show the disc 31 in its lowest position, while the latter shows said disc in its hi hest osition.

From Figs. I, f1, II IV and v, it will be apparent that the continuous magnified rotary motion which disc receives from the tone-arm 12 during playing is in the same direction as the intermittent rotation which the disc 31 received from the rotation of the record carrier 2,i. e., clockwise. The gearing 32, 33, 35, 36 is so correlated with the mechanism by which disc 31 is actuated that the disc 30 will revolve at the same average rate as the disc 31, or, preferably, ata very slightly faster average rate. The disc 30 has at its lower side three outstanding lugs 55 (formed by appropriate punching and bending of the metal) which are abruptly narrowed at their lower ends so as to afford shoulders 56 just above the plane of the upper surface of the lower disc 31 when in its lowest position (see Figs. IV and V), and which extend through elon gated openings or slots 57 (see Fig. III) in the disc 31. So long as the tone-arm 12 is moving inward and the disc 30 rotating, the lugs and the slots 57 occupy about the relative angular positions shown in Fig. III and permit limited relative movement of the discs without interengagement or interconnection (there is, to be accurate, a relative angular vibration, due to the steady motion of the one and the intermittent step by step movement of the other), and the vibratory up and down motion of the disc 31 has no effect on the disc 30. When, however, the stylus reaches the inner end of the record groove and the tone-arm 12 and the disc 30 become stationary, extreme relative movement or displacement of the discs 30 and 31 and of their means of interengagement or interconnection 55 and 57 occurs. The rear edges of the slots 57 quickly overtake the lugs 55 and come beneath their shoulders 56, so that the very next upward movement of the disc 31 elevates the disc 30, as shown in Fig. VII,-the elongated teeth of the pinion 36 permitting this without interference with the operation of the gear train. When thus raised, the upper surface of the disc 30 will engage a lateral projection 59 on the upper arm of the latch member 28, and lift said latch member out of engagement with the lug 29 on the base plate 3,thus releasing the brake device 22 and causing stoppage of the machine.

When the tone-arm 12 is moved outward, after operation of the stop mechanism as just described, preparatory to replaying the record or substituting another, the disc 30' is reversely rotated (counterclockwise) in correspondence. and the shouldered edges of the lugs 55already engaged with the corresponding ends of the slots 57rotate the disc 31 counter-clockwise with it. When the tone-arm 12 is subsequently moved inward in the playing direction to bring the stylus to the beginning of the record groove, the disc 30 will be rotated'relatively to the disc 31 sufficiently to disengage the shouldered edges of the lugs 55 from the disc 31 and to bring the plain leading edges of said lugs into proximity to or engagement with the other ends of the slots 57,-accordi-ng to the size of the record. Thereafter the operation already described will be repeated.

From Figs. III, V and VI, .it will be seen that there is a cam piece loosely pivoted about the lower end of theshaft 20 and resting on the base plate 3. This cam piece 60 has at either side an upstanding lug 61, and the shaft 20 has projecting therefrom an arm 62 resembling a key web. When the stop mechanism has been actuated and the tonearm 12 is moved clear off the record to the limit of motion permitted by the linkage 13 and 14:, preparatory to playing a record again, the. shaft 20 is reversely rotated (i. e., counter-clockwise) so as to cause the arm 62 to engage the corresponding lug 61' and turn the cam member 60' to the position shown in Fig. III, thus releasing the brake, restoring the brake arm 22 to its position shown in Figs. III and IV, and resetting the latch 28. On the other hand, the clockwise rotation of the shaft 20 during playing ultimately causes the key 62 toengage the other lug 61 and shift the cam member 60 out of the path of the corresponding arm of "the brake lever 22, so as to ermit its actuation again as above described In order to obviate wear on the sides of the record groove from the drag of the mechanism connected to the tone-arm 12, it may be found advantageous to connect a flat coil spring 65 (see Figs. I, V and VIII) be' tween the gear 35 of themagnifying gearing and its pivot axis or shaft 341., This spring 65 should be of such scale and under such tension as to balance, as nearly as possible, the resistance of the mechanism attached to the tone-arm during the inward playing movement of the stylus. The shaft 34 being fixed in the topof the casing, the spring 65 acts as a driving agency. The an.-

gular movement of the gear 34 during the. inward motion of the tone-arm 12 is insufficient, it will be understood, to lessen the initial tension onthe spring 65 materially.

It will be seen that my device is a unitary one, adapted to be applied as a unitary structure to ordinary phonograph machines without modification or reconstruction thereof, since the parts 5, 7 and 8 are so thin and occupy so little space that the record carrier or table need not be substantially elevated to accommodate them beneath it.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A phonograph stop mechanism comprising normally movable elements actuated by motions separately derived from the playing of a record, means for giving one of said elements a continuous normally idle vibratory motion additional to its movement aforesaid, a braking mechanism and means for causing the vibrating element during a vibratory period to release the braking'mechanism. V 7 2. phonograph stop mechanism comprising moving elements, one actuated by revolution ofthe record carrier, and the other by movement of the tone-arm; means for giving one of said elements a continuous idle vibratory movement transverse to its aforesaid-V movement; and means for stopping the machine by causing said vibratory element tobecome active during a vibratory period under control of relative movement of said elements due to cessation of move ment of the tone-arm.

3. A phonograph stop mechanism comprising normally moving elements and means of interconnection permitting limited mechanism actuated by revolution of the record carrier for moving the other step by step and means for stopping the machine controlled by relative movement of said elements.

5. A phonograph stop mechanism comprising normally moving elements, one definitely connected to and moving with the tone-arm andthe other actuated by the playing of a recorchibut free to reverse direction for resetting; means for stopping the machine actuated by relative movementof said elements; and means con-. trolled by reverse movement of the tone- .arm for resetting said stoppmgmeans.

6. A1 unitary phonograph stop Imechanism', attachable and detachable from an ordinary phonograph machine as a unitary structure, and comprising, in combination, a rotary actuator beneath the record disc carrier, an operating mechanism adjacent the periphery of said record disc carrier;

means for transmitting motion from said actuator to sand operating mechanism;

means for transmitting motion from the tone-arm to said operating mechanism; and means for stopplng the machine controlled move in a according to the record being played by the combined effect of the two motions transmitted to said operating mechanism as aforesaid. 1 I

7. A phonograph stop mechanism comprising a pair of movable elements, separate means actuable by the record carrier and tone-arm to move said elements at substantially identical rates of progression and around coinciding, axes of movement including means to move one element positively and continuously and to move the other element non-positively and intermittenly, a braking mechanism, and means actuable When the rate of movement between the two elements is varied to release the braking mechanism:

8. A phonograph stop mechanism com prising a pair of elements mounted for rotation about a common axis, separate means actuable by the record carrier and tone-arm to cause movement of their respectively associated elements one continuously and the other intermittently but at substantially identical rates of progression, a braking mechanism, and means operable upon a variation in rate of movement between the two said elements to release the braking mechanism. 7

9. A phonograph stop mechanism comprising a pair of movable elements, means actuable by the record carrier for .moving one of said elements intermittently, means actuated by the tone-arm for'moving the other of said elements continuously, includ ing a train of gears, whereby saidelements are moved at substantially identicalrates of progression, a braking mechanism, and means actuable When the rate of movementbetween the two said elements is variedto release said braking mechanism. 7 I 10. A phonograph stop mechanism including a 'pair of elements mounted for rotation about a common axis, means operable by the record carrier for intermittently rotating one element, means including a train of gears operable by the tone-arm for continuously rotating the'second element so that said elements may be advanced at substantially identical rates of progression, a braking mechanism, and. means actuable upon variation in rate of movement between said elements to release the braking mechanism. 11. A phonograph stop mechanism comprising a pair of discs mounted for rotation about a common axis, one disc having a circumferential slot, an extension on the other disc operating in said slot, separate meansactuable bythe record carrier and tone-arm to respectively rotate their associated discs at substantially identical rates of progression and to move one disk axially, whereby the extension may be" main-' tained at a point substantially midway of the ends of the slot, braking mechanism,

and means actuahle upon cessation of mo tion of the tone-arm causing engagement between the extension and one end of the slot to cause axial movement of said axially movable disk to release the braking mechanism.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- Vania, this 12th day of May, 1920.

OLIVER S. WRIGHT. Witnesses: r

J AMES H. BELL; E. L. FULLERTON. 

